Abstract

One of the popular demonstrations of atmospheric pressure in introductory physics courses is the “crushing can” or “imploding can” experiment.1–4 In this demonstration, which has also been extensively discussed on the Internet, a small amount of water is placed in a soda can and heated until it boils and water vapor almost entirely fills the can. The can is then quickly inverted and its opening is allowed to touch the surface of cold water in a container. Upon touching the cold water surface, the can implodes in a fraction of a second as the water vapor in the can condenses.